Machine milking plant



May '10, 1949 E. G. REDIN Erm. 2,469,519

' MACHINE MILKING' PLANT Fileuaron 5, 1948 4 sheets-sheetA 1 Kari/inkO/a der May 10,-1949. E. G. REDIN ETAL 2,469,519

MACHINE MILKING PLANT Filed Maron 5, 1948 4 sheets-sheet 2 [nn/enfans.-fric Geo/9 Ped/h May 10, 1949. E. G. REDIN Erm. 2,469,519

MACHINE MILKING PLANT Filed March 5, 1948 4 Sheets-SheekI 4 y y4.2 49 42if@ I 47 l 42 j 42 Patented May 10, 1949 MACHINE; MILKING PLANT' Eric.Gleorg` RedinamdzKarl Erik Olander. Norrkoping,

Sweden,l assignors to Aktiebolaget'l Manus, Norrkoping,v Sweden, acompanyv of Sweden ApplicationMarchf, 1948, Serial No. 13,177 In ySwedenMarch 10, 1947 6 Claims.

Whenmilking cows by the use of ordinary'pail, type milking machines itis necessary to move the milking machine from one cow to anotherl, andsince, at least in the case of mediumesized and large stocks, the vacuumrequired for operation ofl the machine is 4obtained from a stationaryvacuumpipe or conduit'mounted along the row of stalls for the cows,inwhich conduit vacuum' is generated by a Vacuum pump Which is usuallymounted in a milk chamberor machine room outside the cow house or barn,itis necessary for' each removaloi the millnngmachine first to dis-4connect the vacuum tube of the machine from the stationary vacuumconduit and then again to connectthe said tube to the vacuum conduit atthe next place of use of the machine, allot whichv involves muchwork anda considerable expendi-K ture of time. The pail or receptacle forming apart of a milking machine of the ordinary type and in which the milk iscollected, must either be exchanged' for a fresh pail for each or every.second cow; or the milk must be emptied from the pail into an' auxiliarybucket, and When saidl bucket' has become'llecl, the milk istransported. in said bucket from the coW barn toA the milk' chamber. invaddition" to the time required'for the milking itself, and-the timerequired-for disL connecting the milkingemacliine from-the Vacuumconduit and again-connecting it to sairconduitv atr the nextA place ofuse, aconsiderable amount of time isalso'spent in exchangingthe` pails.or for pouring-the milk into an extra bucketI and. for transportingsaid bucket to-tlie milk chamber, and. much time is also' consumedV inWashing the milk pails and the extra bucket. A furtherdisadvantageislthat the air in thecow barn comes in contact withthefmilk When ex-V changing pailsv or When the milkis poured into theextrabucket and when transporting thev milk out from ythe cow barn.

The presentv invention relates to a machiney milking plantl in whichallof the above men.- tioned difficulties and inconveniences areavoided',V and through Which certain important advantagesare attained.

In themachine milking plantaccording tothe' present invention there isprovided, in a manner. known-per se, in the coW housealong the row orrows of stalls for the cows a trackrail on which a carriage ismovableand displaceable, as Well'asa stationary milkconduitand a stationaryrvacuuinconduit which extendlfrom theroW'or rows of stalla-,either bothto a. milkV chamber, or'more usually, in accordanceY to thev presentpractice,

the milk conduit `extends to a milk chamber and:

the vacuum conduit to a machine room. The essential` characterizingfeature: off, the present-i invention islthat the carriage is7provided-Witheet pluralityiofteal;t cup units'v commensurate tosiamultaneous; milking: of a. 1eredetermined: number ofy cows WhileI thecarriage occupies: one of its@v Working positions; theteatacupaunits-beingi posi1 tioned onsaid'. carriage atx theappropriate: distancestfromv one another:v for'suchasimultaneous:milkingoi aipredetemnined number of cows; there being also'. provided.on said carriage aY subst-an:- tially horizontal"l milk; conduitzor.Ipipe which is-i common to the aforesaid teat: cup.' units andntof.

which; the-` milk:l tubes` of L' said teati cup, units are l connected;said'` milk, conduitbeing providedtat'.

present inventionthe1 Work required forumoving'g' thefteatl cupunitsis'considerablyfacilitated', asl

is, alsoithe connection andy disconnection offthe: teat cup units, sinceaccording to the invention;

all teat cupfunitsLprovidedfonzfthe carriage aresimultaneouslyconnected; to andi disconnected: from the stationaryconduits, whereby atgreat,

saving intime andlabor iszattained; Thevrnilking-r the initialscost; ofthe plant is, reducedaandgtlie laborxandrtime reduiredbfor` cleaningthe-statione ary. milk conduit aften eachV milking operation! isconsiderablyfreduced..

Particularly when the localnconditions; forgin+- stancen in; connectionY with z theA installation of; a 1 machine ,milking plant in an:yoldxicow: barn, .neces- I sitate the use-of.ai,comparatively.'long-1stationarttv vacuumvconduit, the movablecarriagefis' provided;4 according' to the invention,y with: at'y leastfone pulsator connected between the vacuum conduit on the carriage andthe vacuum tubes of the teat cup units, said pulsator serving to producea pulsating vacuum in the teat cups from a uniform vacuum in thestationary vacuum conduit. Preferably, however, the carriage is providedwith a plurality of pulsators corresponding to the nurnber of teat cupunits on the carriage, each such pulsator being connected between thevacuum conduit on -the carriage and its corresponding teat cup unit. Inboth these cases the advantage is attained that the plant can beoperated with a uniform vacuum in the stationary vacuum conduit, whichrenders it possible to maintain in said last mentioned conduit asuiciently strong vac-uum for producing, by means of the pulsator orpulsators on the carriage, suiiiciently strong pulsations in the teatcup units for performing the milking operation, irrespective of at whatplace in the cow barn the carriage happens to be positioned.

The accompanying drawings illustrate by way of example a fewconstructional forms of machine milking plants according to theinvention. Fig. 1 shows schematically a cross section of a portion of acow barn viewed in the direction of the row of stalls, and Fig. 2 showsa fractional longitudinal sec-tion of the cow barn and a fractional sideview of the movable carriage, while Fig. 3 shows to a larger scale anend View of the movable carriage. Figs. 4 and 5 are schematic plan viewswhich illustrate various arrangements of the plant in the cow barn.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, there extend over therow of stalls which is represented in the drawings by the so-calledstall platform I, two pipe conduits, viz, a stationary milk conduit 2and a stationary vacuum conduit 3 which are supported from the ceilingof the cow barn by means of supporting straps 4. The pipe conduits 2 and3 extend through an opening 5 in the wall 6 of the barn into the milkchamber, which is indicated at 'I in Fig. 2, the pipe conduits beingconnected in said milk chamber in the ordinary manner to a vacuum pump,not illustrated in the drawing, which serves to maintain the requiredvacuum in said conduits, and in addition, the milk conduit 2 isconnected to a releaser, not illustrated in the drawing, for automaticdischarge of the milk from said conduit.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, thestationary vacuum conduit 3 serves as a track rail for a carriagegenerally designated 8. As illustrated in the drawing, the said carriagecomprises a number of hangers 9 which support two pipes I and I I, as bymeans of hooks or holders I 2, which are attached to the hangers 9.Rotatably attached to the upper end of each hanger 9 is a runner wheelI3, said wheel running on the stationary pipe conduit 3 so that in thismanner the carriage as a whole is movable on said conduit 3. In theconstruction illustrated, there is mounted on each hanger 9 a pulsatorI4 which is connected by means of an elastic tube I5, Fig. 2, with theupper pipe I0 of the carriage. Elastic tubes I6, Fig. 2, lead from eachpulsator I4 to the distributor or central of a teat cup unit I1 of atype well known per se, which is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 as hanging froma hook I8, Fig. 3, which is attached to the hanger 9. A milk tube I9leads from the distributor of the teat cup unit to the lower pipe II ofthe carriage. The upper pipe I 0 of the carriage is provided at its endwith a stopcock 22 and beyond the latter with a connecting device, whichis illustrated in Fig. 2 as consisting of an elastic tube 20, by meansof which said pipe I0 may be connected to the stationary vacuum conduit3 at different connecting points on the latter, which points arerepresent-ed in Fig. 2 by a stopcock 24 attached to said conduit 3 andprovided with a nozzle to which the tube 2li is connected. In a likemanner the lower milk pipe II of the carriage is provided at its endwith a stopcock 23 and beyond the latter with a connecting device, alsoillustrated as consisting of an elastic tube 2 I, by means of which thepipe I I may be connected to the stationary milk conduit 2 at differentconnecting points on the latter, which are represented in Fig. 2 by astopcock 26 attached to the conduit 2 and having Ia nozzle forconnection to the tube 2|. Preferably, the pipes III and II are providedwith similar stopcocks 22 and 23 and connecting devices 2li and 2l,respectively, also at their opposite ends, which are not illustrated inFig. 2. This arrangement renders it possible to connect the two pipes I0and Il on the carriage to the stationary conduits 3 and 2 at that end ofthe carriage which, in the various operating positions of said carriage,happens to be nearest to connecting points 24 and 26, respectively, onthe two stationary conduits. Accordingly, the pipe I0 may be deemed toconstitute a portion of the vacuum conduit movable with the carriage 8,while the pipe II constitutes a portion of the milk conduit movable withthe carriage.

The teat cup units Il are suitably placed on the carriage 8 at suchdistances from one another that when the carriage 8 is connected to thelconduits 2 and 3 in a certain position of use, there will be two cowsbetween every two adjacent teat cup units, as is indicated by the stallsA and B in Fig. 2. In such position of the carriage it is thus possiblewith each teat cup unit to milk one cow on either side of the pointwhere the teat cup unit is suspended from the carriage.

, Consequently, assuming that the carriage is provided with three teatcup units, it is possible in each position of the carriage to milk sixcows, after which the connections 20 and 2I are disconnected and thecarriage is moved to the next Vgroup of six cows, and while the cows ofthis Idifferent requirements.

When the track rail, which in the constructional form illustrated inFigs. 1 and 2 consists of the vacuum conduit 3, isfstraight so that thecarriage 8 has a rectilinear path of movement without bends or curves,the pipes I0 and I I may, of course, consist of straight rigid pipesextending across the entire width of the carriage 8. On the other hand,when the track rail for the carriage comprises bends or curves, it isadvantageous to make the carriage 8 of several parts hinged orarticulated relatively to one another about vertical axes. Such anarrangement may be accomplished in a simple manner by each of the twoconduits II] and I I on the carriage S being made up of separate pipelengths lila, Ib, and IIa, IIb, respectively, which are jointed to oneanother at points located substantially midway between two adjacenthangers I0, by means of short pieces of elastic tubes 3l) and 3|,respectively, made for instance of rubber. In this Way 55 theftube-pieces- 'v and 3i form'y articulated'l jointsy orzhinges in thecarriage 8. By providing similar joints `or hingesin; the conduits Il).land Il at points, located approximately midway between every-pairofhangers 9, the4 carriage will .become suiiiciently articulate to runeasily along curves orbends in the trackrail.

Inthe plant according to the invention illustrated inFigs. l to 3inclusive of the drawings, .the milk will, of c,o.urse,.fiow from theteat cups 'to and throughthe pipe H to the stationary milk conduit 2:and. from .the latter to the milk chamber, and. consequently,the-milkwill not come in contact with. the air in the cow barn. Sincethe carriage is provided `withpulsators which are directly'connected torlthe-teat cupunits, the diificulty of maintaining a; pulsating vacuumin the stationary vacuum. conduit. 3; is eliminated, and a .uniformvacuum may be maintainedin the said conduit, while the pulsators. I4 onthe carriage 8 which are connected to the vacuum conduit 3 inthe mannerabovev described, ensure the pulsating vacuum required for-the teat cupunits. Withthe use of the novel plant according to this invention it ispossible, therefore, to effect the milking. also in very large cow barnsin which the rowV of stalls extendrela'tively far from the milk. chamberand from the vacuum pump in said. chamber, and itis thus. possible tomilk allcows also in a large cow barn, while the cows remain tethered totheir regular stalls.

Fig. 4 illustrates schematically and in plan view; an arrangement of 1amachinemilking plant according to this invention in a cow barn. In

the instance illustrated in Fig.. 4, there are four rowsof stalls in thecow barn 4I, each row comprising twenty stalls 42; From a milk chamber43'.a stationary milk conduit` 44extends into the barn, and a stationaryvacuum conduit 45 extends` from the machine room 45 into the barn. Inthe barn the said two conduits 44 and 45 extendv in a directiontransverse to the rows of stallsover the middle/point oi said rows, sothat in :the instance illustrated, there `are ten stalls of' each row oneither side of the conduits 4'4 and:` 45. The conduit 4'4Sis. providedlwith connecting means at the points4'd, and the conduit 46. is provided'with connecting means at the points 48. Each of the track rails 49extends along one row of stalls and then in a semi-circle 50 to theopposite rowof'stalls. The carriages 8 whichy are movable along thetrack rails, and which are represented in Fig. 4 by dot and dashrectangles, and which are assumed to be articulated in the manner-abovedescribed, may thus be.- moved` along one row of stalls and then overthe-v semi-circular portion 50 of Ieach track rail to' the opposite rowof stalls. In the instance illustrated, where therows of stalls aredivided into groups comprising ten stalls, the carriages maysuitably-beprovided with ve teat cup units, sothat ve of lthe cows at each group ofstalls may be milked first and afterwards the remaining:lveco\vs, whilethe carriage remain-s stationary at one working position and the milkand vacuum pipes of the carriage are connected to the two stationaryconduits at a pair of connecting points 47 and 48; When the milking of agroup of cows whichin thisinstance is assumed to comprise ten cows, isnished, :the carriage is disconnected from-'the stationary conduits 44and 46 and is moved to the next group of stalls where it is againconnected to the stationary conduits. It will be readily understood fromthe foregoing description that it is advantageous to provide the 6i.carriage with connecting devices at both:A ends ofv the carriage, tofacilitate connection-1 ofthe carriage to` the. stationaryconduits in'.any.:po.A siticn of the carriage. Itzwfill. alsobereadily, understoodfrom. the:v above. descriptiom in; conjunction withthe drawing-thattheuse of` a;car:- riage i provided. with a.largenumberl of teat-cupunits,coupled with a. suitable arrangement.. of the various groupsof stal-ls,provides the advantage that the milk conduit 4-4ibecomes compara.-tively short, and. that a relativelyA smallnumberf oi connectingmeans4'l will bey required onsaid;

conduit, so that the conduit;i will be'easilycleaned. Also the vacuumconduit4'6f. will have acorraspondingly short length, whereby aYreduction of the initial cost of the plant is-gained.

Similar advantages asthose above explainedV are attained also with thearrangement of a Inachine milking plant according to the inventionv asschematically illustrated inY plan viewin'-.Fig-; 5. As shown in thisfigure', :the cow barn ."rl isprovided with eight rows of stalls, eachrow-=comprising twelveY stalls 52.' In-1this casethe-rows of stallsextend in a transverse direct-ion of the barn. The stationaryrmilk-conduit 54 extendsfrom the milk chamber'v 531- inv the-longitudinaldirection of :the barn at the-ends of thefrows of stalls and is shown-1asprovided with a connecting means 51l at each rowof stalls.Thestationary vacuum conduit Stil-'fromv th-e machinewv room 55 alsoextends inl the'longitudinal` direction of the barn at the-ends-oiv therows of stallsand is provided with connecting means 58'. The

track rails 59 which extend' along the rowsY of` stalls are connectedwith one another throughv semi-circular portions 6133' atthe ends ofIthe'rows of stalls. The movablev4 carriage B, which s-represented inVFig. 5 Iby a dot andfdash'rectangle,` and which is assumed to bearticulated intheI manner above described; may'thus-be run along vthetrack rail to any of the eight' rows of'stalls. In this instance, wheneach group comprises twelve stalls, the carriage mayv suitably. be.provided with six teat cupunits, s-o that while the. carriage occupiesaworking .position along, a group. of stalls, the cows atthisgroup. of.stalls may lbe milked in two operations,` each comprising six cows. Themilking. being iinished, the car-- riage is disconnected. from theconnectingA means` at this working position `ofthe carriage, which isthen run to the nextrow of stallsandis thereconnected to the stationaryconduits, but in this` case such connection is eiiected by means ofytheconnecting devices at the.` opposite-end of the-y carriarge. It willbe readily-seen that also. with;V the arrangement of the rowsgof: stallsandof the stationary conduitsy asishownginlFig; 5, a sub:- stantialreduction of the. length of saids'tationary conduits is attained,`as-arey alsorthe advantages accruing therefromas-aboveeXDlained.

It will be understoodlthatfthe invention-isn'ot; limited to theconstructional formsy above de-V scribed and illustrated inthe-drawings,and-.thats various modificationsmaybe made-therein within the scope ofthe iollowingrclaims.

As above explained, the stationary vacuum conduit may extend from thebarn'to the milk chamber, in which the vacuumv pump may be positioned,and in such'case the'milk chamber serves simultaneouslyasa`machine'room. For this reason, the terms milk chamber and machineroom in the accompanying claims should be interpreted as covering also asingle room serving both as a milk chamber and as a machine room.

We claim:

1. A machine milking plant for a cow barn having a stationary milkconduit extending from a milk chamber into said barn, and a stationaryvacuum conduit extending from a machine roo-m into said barn, comprisinga track rail extending along one row of stalls at least in said barn, acarriage structure movably mounted upon said truck rail, a plurality ofteat cup units on said carriage structure, the number of said unitsbeing commensurate to and said units being spaced at appropriatedistances from one another for simultaneous milking of a -predeterminednumber of cows While the carriage structure occupies a predeterminedworking position a substantially horizontal milk conduit on saidcarriage structure common to said teat cup units, said teat cup unitshaving milk tubes connected to said milk conduit on said carriagestructure, a connecting device at one end at least of said milk conduiton said carriage structure for connecting said milk conduit to saidstationary milk conduit, a substantially horizontal vacuum conduit onsaid carriage structure common to said teat cup units, said teat cupunits having vacuum tubes connected to said vacuum conduit on saidcarriage structure, and a connecting device at one end at leastof saidvacuum conduit on said carriage structure for connecting said vacuumconduit to said stationary vacuum conduit.

2. A machine milking plant as dened in claim 1, further comprising atleast one pulsator on said carriage structure connected between theVacuum conduit on said carriage structure and the vacuum tubes ofsaidteat cup units, said pulsator being adapted to produce a pulsatingvacuum in the teat cups of said teat cup units from a uniform vacuum inthe stationary vacuum conduit.

3. A machine milking plant as defined in claim 1, further comprising aplurality of pulsators on said carriage structure, the number of suchpulsators equalling the number of teat cup units, each pulsator beingconnected between the vacuum conduit on said carriage structure and thevacuum tube of one of said cup units.

4. A machine milking plant as deiined in claim 1, further comprising ashut-01T valve at each end of said milk conduit on said carriagestructure, a connecting device at each end of said milk conduit on saidcarriage structure for connecting said conduit to said stationary milkconduit, a shut-off valve at each end of said vacuum conduit on saidcarriage structure, and a connecting device at each end of said vacuumconduit on said carriage structure for connecting said conduit to saidstationary vacuum conduit.

5. A machine milking plant for a cow barn having a stationary milkconduit extending from a milk chamber into said barn, and a stationaryvacuum conduit extending from a machine room intoy said barn, comprisinga track rail extending along one row of stalls at least in said barn, acarriage structure movably mounted upon said track rail, a plurality ofteat cup units on said carriage structure, the number of said unitsbeing commensurate to and said units being spaced at appropriatedistances from one another for simultaneous milking of a predeterminednumber of cows while the carriage structure occupies a predeterminedworking position, a substantially horizontal milk conduit on saidcarriage structure common to said teat cup units, said milk conduit onsaid carriage structure comprising a plurality of pipe lengths, elastictubes connecting adjacent ends of said pipe lengths at point locatedsubstantially midway between two adjacent teat cup units on saidcarriage structure, said teat cup units having milk tubes connected tosaid milk conduit on said carriage structure, a connecting device at oneend at least of said milk conduit on said carriage structure forconnecting said milk conduit to said stationary milk conduit, asubstantially horizontal vacuum conduit on said carriage structurecommon to said teat cup units, said vacuum conduit on said carriagestructure comprising a plurality of pipe lengths, elastic tubesconnecting adjacent ends of said pipe lengths at points locatedsubstantially midway between two adjacent teat cup units on saidcarriage structure, said teat cup units having vacuum tubes connected tosaid vacuum conduit on said carriage structure, and a connecting deviceat one end at least of said vacuum conduit on said carriage structurefor connecting said vacuum conduit to said stationary vacuum conduit.

6. A machine milking plant for a cow barn having a stationary milkconduit extending from a milk chamber into said barn, and a stationaryvacuum conduit extending from a machine room into said barn, the stallsfor the cows in said barn being arranged in groups each comprising apredetermined number of stalls, at least one track rail extending alongsaid groups of stalls, a carriage structure movably mounted upon saidtrack rail, a plurality of teat cup units on said carriage structure,the number of said units being commensurate to simultaneous milking of anumber of cows equal to half the number of stalls of each group ofstalls with the carriage structure yoccupying a working position at suchgroup of stalls,

a substantially horizontal milk conduit on said carriage structurecommon to said teat cup units, said teat cup units having milk tubesconnected to said milk conduit on said carriage structure, a shut-offvalve at each end of said milk conduit on said carriage structure, aconnecting device at each end of said milk conduit on -said carriagestructure for connecting said milk conduit to said stationary milkconduit, a substantially horizontal vacuum conduit on said carriagestructure common to said teat cup units, said teat cup units havingvacuum tubes connected to said vacuum conduit on said carriagestructure, a shut-ofi Valve at each end of said vacuum conduit on saidcarriage structure, a connecting deviceat each end of said vacuumconduit on said carriage structure for connecting said vacuum conduit tosaid stationary vacuum conduit, connecting means on said stationary milkconduit at each group of stalls for connecting one of said connectingdevices for the milk conduit on said carriage structure to saidstationary milk conduit, connecting means on said stationary vacuumconduit at each group of stalls for connecting one of said connectingdevices for the vacuum conduit on said carriage structure to saidstationary vacuum conduit.

ERIC GEORG REDIN. KARL ERIK OLANDER.

No references cited.

